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Producing a show for the British Council Showcase Pt4

Tour, Tour, Tour!

It can take ages for anything to happen, so don't be impatient, but make sure when you get home you email the people you met. You're given a book filled with the delegates you meet and it has photos. After presenting Backstage in Biscuit Land at the showcase, when I got home, I went through this booklet with a highlighter and marked off everyone I'd met and anyone I thought the show would be of interest to, whether I'd met them or not. Then I emailed them all personally, sending the information sheet again and let them know we were interested in working with them. We fairly quickly secured a date in Toronto. This meant that the game was on for building a North American tour, because venues need to share the costs if possible. We were able to secure shows in New York, San Francisco and LA. This took place in March, the spring after the showcase, which was pretty quick. It was great. The accommodation provided for us was incredible and the venues were so warm and welcoming.

Visas and tax are a nightmare so you have to just relax and take your time with this. Get as much help as you can from the British Council, who have done this job a thousand times. Whatever you do don't panic. If anything goes wrong and your visa gets rejected it's not the end of the line necessarily. These folks are used to this happening and they're there to help.

We also got booked for a tour in Australia of Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, which happened at the end of the year after the showcase. There were also separate bookings in Belgrade, Sweden and Norway. This has been since 2015 and there's always the possibility that more shows abroad will be booked in still.

The show translated well into the different cultures we visited and was warmly received. As mentioned before it felt like we were making a difference in the world and this is such an honour. Really the the whole reason I make theatre is to try and make the world a better place and to mix this with getting to travel as part of my dream job... Well, it's the experience of a lifetime.